Nichole Gomez
El Paso, TX (KVIA-TV)- Cold and flu season is here, and as temperatures drop in the Sun City respiratory illnesses become increasingly common. Dr. Irene Gonzales, emergency medicine physician at Del Sol Medical Center helps us understand the difference between a cold and the flu and how it can help you make smart decisions about your health care.
Rosemary Garcia
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA)— This Good Vibes Only report begins in the busy streets of the Resler area in West El Paso.
Two stray dogs had been roaming the area near the interstate for over two weeks when a local animal rescue spotted them. One was limping; the other stayed nearby.
“People would drive by, and they’d be huddled up together, and then they’d see him get up and walk away with his leg just dangling.”
The male dog, Paxton, had been injured. One of his hind legs required immediate medical attention.
He was also joined by a female pup, Daphne, who remained by his side the entire time.
Karen Washington with Pawsitive Rescuers of El Paso picked them both up.
“They went straight to the vet and, you know, started their process on getting his leg fixed in her and making sure that they’re going to be okay,” said Loretta Hyde.
Paxton’s injured leg was set to be amputated, but after undergoing surgery, his leg was saved!
Loretta Hyde, the founder of the Animal Rescue League of El Paso, said that Paxton was never alone over the span of those two weeks. Daphne was determined to be with him at all times.
“She never left his side the whole two weeks. When he moved, she moved and vice versa. Once they caught him, she was like, I’m going with you. There was no doubt that she wasn’t going to go with us in the same car,” she said.
Paxton continues to recover and gain strength in that leg.
“He comes up to us now. He wants attention.”
The pair is now under the care of the Animal Rescue League of El Paso while they await adoption.
Hyde said the right owner will offer plenty of tender, loving care and patience!
She wants them to be adopted by the same owner because of the pair’s close bond. She said she’s even willing to do a two-for-one deal.
“A forever home that they get to go together and that they get to stay together because they definitely respect each other. I want to be together.” “Even willing to do a two-for-one if I could keep them together. I would love for her to go with him because it’s his comfort, and that’s her comfort blanket as well.”
For those interested in adopting the pair, the Animal Rescue League of El Paso is open seven days a week. Click here for more information.
If you have a Good Vibes Only story, please e-mail rosemary.garcia@kvia.com.
Heriberto Perez Lara
SUNLAND PARK, New Mexico (KVIA) — U.S. Border Patrol El Paso Sector is set to hold a press event along with the National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), which will feature the agency’s director, Sara Carter, also known as the Drug Czar.
ONDCP is the White House component that leads and coordinates the nation’s drug policy to improve the health and lives of the American people. The office is responsible for the development and implementation of the National Drug Control Strategy and Budget, coordinating across 19 federal agencies and overseeing a $44 billion budget as part of a whole-of-government approach to addressing addiction and the overdose epidemic.
Local and national officials are set to discuss the consequences for attempting to illegally enter the U.S. and the impacts of drug policies on border enforcement.
Full story and reactions in later newscasts.
Hillary Floren
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — Today’s women are busy. They’re stressed, exhausted, overwhelmed and often lonely. That’s why Nicole Haymon decided to take action. She created a “purpose and paint party.” Dozens of women answered the call, gathering for a night of smiles, conversation, goal setting, and painting.
Participant Tonique Hayward says, “It was needed, honestly. I felt like this was a moment for me to spend some time with myself…with women who are looking for the same thing I’m looking for. Community, sisterhood.”
Nicole Haymon, also the author of “Imperfectly Purposed,” says she decided to have the women paint journals that they could fill with their thoughts.
“Journaling is a way to brain dump. Get everything out of your mind, because your mind is not supposed to be a storage. And you can process your thoughts and go back and look at progress,” she says.
Notable moments also included guided group painting sessions, signature mirror moments, where participants affirmed one another, small group connection, and a celebratory “you go” circle to close out the night.
‘The purpose is for us to be who we are in that moment. Imperfect, messy, but with a purpose,” Haymon says.
Haymon also wrote a book, called “Imperfectly Purposed.” More information here Imperfectly Purposed: A Guided Journey on Your Path to Becoming Purpose-Full: Haymon, Nicole: 9798449707017: Amazon.com: Books
To find out more about purpose parties, call 219-902-5277.
Heriberto Perez Lara
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — President Trump visited Michigan last week, where he said the USMCA trade agreement is irrelevant to the country’s economy. The president claimed the U.S. does not need either Mexico or Canada for trade and industry. Local economy experts and leaders say this is not true.
“There’s no advantage to it, it’s irrelevant to me,” President Trump said at a Ford manufacturing plant last week. “Canada would love it, Canada wants it and they need it because we don’t need Canada’s product and that’s the thing, I want to be a nice person, but we don’t need it.”
“I want to build the cars here, not in Canada. We used to build cars in Canada and now the Canadians are moving here to build cars; same thing with Mexico, same thing with Japan,” President Trump added.
The agreement includes a clause that requires a review every six years to decide whether to extend it for another 16 years or end it in ten years. The review is set to begin on July 1, 2026, and all three countries will decide.
“Up through 2024, there was a lot of policy continuity. Beginning in January 2025, there has been federal policy that moves all over the place, and it’s caused a lot of uncertainty throughout the United States,” said UTEP Professor of Economics and Finance Dr. Tom Fullerton. “But since much of the policy uncertainty and pronouncements or mispronouncements occur about USMCA, even more of that uncertainty has occurred here within the border region because we depend so much on international manufacturing and international commerce.”
Professor Fullerton also told ABC-7 that there’s also a lot of international commerce that occurs in both El Paso and Ciudad Juárez, which simply relies on good relations between the two countries and a close-to-seamless linkage that allows customers to move back and forth across bridges.
“It would be helpful if the White House would acknowledge that even though the United States economy is much larger than the Canadian economy and the Mexican economy, the increase in international trade and international investment flows between all three countries has benefited the United States as well as Canada and Mexico,” Professor Fullerton added.
ABC-7 also spoke with the CEO of the Borderplex Alliance, Jon Barela, who said the USMCA agreement has been an unparalleled success not only for Canada, Mexico and the U.S., but also for the El Paso-Ciudad Juárez region in particular. According to him, this area is the fifth-largest manufacturing hub in North America, with over 350,000 residents working in manufacturing enterprises in the region, a 16% increase over the past two years, and truck cross-border trade at the local ports of entry.
“One of the great successes that President Trump had during his first term was wide bipartisan support in both houses of Congress that ratified the USMCA, the deal that his administration cut. So it’s been a very successful agreement. And once every six years, we review the agreement. We’re due to do that here soon. And in the months ahead, we’ll see where we go,” CEO Barela said.
CEO Barela adds that the USMCA has proven its importance not only by creating jobs, but also through the foreign direct investment that has been generated by the three economies.
“We’ve also seen many investors from Canada and Europe investing heavily in our region; so we believe that trend will continue if the USMCA is re-certified, re-ratified,” CEO Barela added.
“The tariffs have also caused a lot of investment plans to be sidelined because there was so much uncertainty about what was ultimately going to happen, and incredibly, all the tariff threats were against Mexico for products that were covered under USMCA,” Professor Fullerton also said. “It took several weeks, but eventually it was all clarified, but it was kind of unnecessary to go through that whole experience.”
“Ultimately, just the tariffs in general are hurting businesses throughout the United States and a lot of times, when tariffs are applied, they’re used to final goods, consumer goods, but the tariffs that have been enacted over the last 12 months by the United States fall upon not only consumer goods or final goods, but also intermediate inputs, raw materials and equipment,” Professor Fullerton said.
Olivia Vara
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — During Sheriff Oscar Ugarte’s town hall meeting this past Saturday, the family of Tara Williams questioned Sheriff Ugarte as to why Williams was able to take her own life while in their custody.
Rosalie Vicenti, Tara Williams’ mother, told ABC-7 during an interview that her daughter was supposed to be on suicide watch.
Vicenti further said that Williams was kept on life support for 4 days before she was notified that her daughter had taken her own life.
“I’m asking why were there so many deaths in that facility in 2025. And my daughter was one of them. I am asking why it took four days to contact me because my daughter was already dead,” Vicenti told ABC-7 during an interview.
Vicenti says that as a Native American who is part of the Jicarilla Apache Tribe, she needed to bury her daughter within 4 days of her death in accordance to her beliefs and was unable to do so.
“If they were to, take, took, taken precaution inside the jail, guarding her the way they did at the hospital, she would still be here,” said Vicenti
The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office confirmed to ABC-7 that Tara Williams was one of ten in-custody deaths in 2025.
In response to an ABC-7 interview request, the El Paso County Sheriff’s office sent this statement that read, quote,
“We can confirm that Tara Williams was one of ten in-custody deaths in 2025. Our office does not routinely release detailed information regarding suicides or deaths determined to be from natural causes.
As required by state law, and as explained by Sheriff Ugarte to the Williams family on Saturday, every in-custody death is reported to both the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) and the Texas Attorney General’s Office. Each case is thoroughly investigated by the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Unit, the Texas Rangers, and TCJS. To date, TCJS has not found our office to be out of compliance, and we remain in full adherence with all state-mandated protocols.
The health, safety, and well-being of individuals in our custody remain a top priority. We are committed to transparency, accountability, and the continuous improvement of our practices. If it is determined that employee actions contributed to a death, appropriate accountability measures will be taken.”
Rosalie Vicenti, Tara Williams mother, told ABC-7 that she does not want any family to go through what they did.
Heriberto Perez Lara
SUNLAND PARK, New Mexico (KVIA) — The U.S. federal government is about to begin construction of a new border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border in the Mount Cristo Rey area of Sunland Park, New Mexico.
According to the El Paso Sector Border Patrol and the Ciudad Juárez Civil Protection Department, controlled detonations are expected to begin today to prepare the ground and lay the foundation for this new border wall.
ABC-7 reported last summer that approximately 1.3 kilometers of new border barrier were approved for the Sunland Park area, south of the mountain. The goal of this new wall in that area is to deter illegal immigration into the United States further, as this section of the border has lacked a wall for years and has been a very active area for migrant crossings, according to Border Patrol.
The controlled blasts are expected to begin around noon on Tuesday.
More updates in later newscasts.
Nichole Gomez
El Paso, TX (KVIA-TV) – Mark your calendars: on Saturday, February 7th, at the Starlight Event Center, the El Paso Black Hall of Fame will host its 2nd annual induction ceremony and gala night, where legacy meets action.
Monica Tucker, the founder of Black El Paso Voice, and Reginald Daniel, Sr., who is a retired Army Command Sergeant Major, community leader, supporter, and volunteer. Dana Harley Boyd, a native El Pasoan, executive principal, past principal of the year, 2017 inductee into the El Paso Women’s Hall of Fame, and educational leader. Daniel Sr. and Harley Boyd joined us to talk about the event and what it means to be honored. They are just a few of the local leaders who will be celebrated during an evening of excellence and legacy at the El Paso Hall of Fame.
According to Monica Tucker, the Founder of Black El Paso Voice, the El Paso black hall of Fame was founded by the spouse of an Army Soldier, now marking 30 years in El Paso. Originally from Illinois, the Black Hall of Fame was created over 25 years ago, but did not come to fruition until a few years ago. It is a way I wanted to give back to the community and “give people their flowers while they’re here,” while also honoring deserving legends posthumously.
Tucker said, “The El Paso Black Hall of Fame exists to publicly recognize Black excellence connected to the borderland – honoring individuals and organizations who have lived in El Paso, grown up here, served here (including military ties), or maintained strong roots here, even if their current impact is being made elsewhere.”
She went on to say that this is more than an awards night; it’s legacy preservation in real time: documenting the stories that built and shaped this community, elevating contributions that are too often overlooked, and creating a clear public record of Black leadership, service, innovation, and cultural influence tied to El Paso.
El Paso Black Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony & Gala Details:
Date: Saturday, February 7, 2026
Time: 6:00 PM
Location: Starlight Event Center
Attire: Formal
Event Focus: The gala honors 15 outstanding individuals and 1 organization whose lives reflect pillars of excellence, including proven community impact and exceptional professional achievement. This year’s Lifetime Achievement Recipient is Chief Jonathan Killings, El Paso’s first Black Fire Chief.
Nicole Ardila
January is National Human Trafficking Awareness Month, and now prevention month in Texas as declared by Gov. Greg Abbott earlier this month.
FBI El Paso says there’s a misconception that human trafficking happens more along the border, and that’s simply not true.
Human trafficking is a crime that involves sexual exploitation or forced labor.
It can happen anywhere, but according to Texas Health and Human Services, Texas has the second highest number reported sex trafficking cases in all 50 states.
FBI El Paso Supervisory Special Agent Edward Dominguez says in fiscal year 2025, the FBI opened over 900 human trafficking investigations and made over 500 arrests.
In fiscal year 2026, they’ve already opened over 200 cases, 225 investigations, and about 150 arrests so far.
When asked if they knew how many victims actually make it back home safe, the FBI says the answer isn’t that simple.
“It’s hard to quantify that number because, well, sometimes we don’t know where to look. It’s hidden in plain sight,” says Dominguez. “Human trafficking, especially labor trafficking because it can be perpetrated by individuals who offer, legitimate business services.”
FBI El Paso says they often end up interviewing local businesses that offer real services like construction, restaurants or nail salons, but commit labor trafficking.
Parents can even notice signs when they’re child is behaving odd, or has a phone, hotel room keys or credit card they don’t recognize.
Or if in public, if another person seems to be in control and doesn’t allow someone to answer questions for themselves.
Even extensive runaway and missing child reports can be a sign.
FBI El Paso says, many times victims don’t even know they’re being trafficked and don’t report it.
“Oftentimes, they have a distrust in law enforcement, so that keeps them from coming forward. It could have been a negative experience of law enforcement in the past, or maybe they’ve tried to report it to law enforcement and the enforcement didn’t believe their story,” says Dominguez. “So, it’s hard for the victim. It’s hard for them to come forward to report their ordeal.”
If you suspect someone may be trafficked, contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 888-373-7888 or call 911 if you see immediate danger.
Heriberto Perez Lara
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — A video circulating on social media shows two migrants crossing the Rio Grande dressed as construction workers, along with three suspected human smugglers; this reportedly occurred on January 9.
Once they crossed the river, they were seen walking toward the levee and then heading to one of the border wall gates to illegally cross into El Paso.
According to the El Paso Sector Border Patrol, the migrants, one Mexican and one Ecuadorian, were arrested immediately after crossing through the border wall gate located in the Old Fort Bliss area, in West El Paso.
“Yeah, believe it or not, this situation has happened in the past as well. There are multiple criminal organizations that do this to gain illegal access to the United States between ports of entry, said Agent Claudio Herrera. “We have seen this type of situation often. Criminal organizations tend to tell the migrants how, when, and where they can cross the border illegally, and they are the ones who charge them thousands of dollars just to put their lives at risk in these situations. Of course, they’re going to face consequences. They’re going to be processed accordingly, and they’re going to be removed.”
Border Patrol also says these transnational criminal organizations often use these types of videos to lie to migrants and prove they are still operating, still crossing people illegally, and to offer their services at the border.
“Criminals are criminals, right? They disregard the lives of the people they’re smuggling into the country illegally. They don’t care about them. They charge whatever amount of money they can think of. And migrants are willing to pay these smugglers, sell their properties, sell everything they have, even borrow money from friends, family, whoever they can borrow from, just to get into the United States,” said Agent Herrera. “The reality is they will only place them in a stash house in Ciudad Juárez or any other city along the border. They will lie to them. They will treat them horribly. They will provide them with a lack of food, a lack of water.”
“It is important to let the people and the community know that we’re working for the benefit of our country, we’re protecting our borders, and we’re taking this job very, very seriously,” he added.
Agent Herrera also says that as the federal government continues construction of the border wall, it is important to be aware that this does not mean migrants can cross the border illegally. He says they tend to believe that because they’re working in those areas, there is no law enforcement presence there.
“The reality is that we even have people in the construction areas 24/7 just protecting our borders,” Agent Herrera added. “Let’s make that clear, right? We have eyes everywhere. We have technology. We have different assets that we can move where they need to be to arrest and apprehend these individuals.”
He added that partnerships the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, and Border Patrol have with the Department of War, the state of Texas, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office help them impose serious consequences on those people entering the country illegally through the construction sites.
